Etc files in linux

What does etc stand for?

What does the «etc» folder in the root directory stand for? I think knowing this will help me remember where certain files are located. Update: Might be useful for others, the folder is used for «Host specific configuration files» — reference.

A backronym I rather like is «Edit To Configure», but there is no history to suggest that this is a «real» meaning.

My guess would be history. Nobody really thought «Hey, we’re going to have a bunch of system-wide config data!» and so nobody ever created a directory for it. But, of course, there was, and everybody shoved it into /etc because there wasn’t anyplace else to put it. Poof! De-facto standard. You know that /usr was originally the place where user home directories were?

It’s also (slightly) interesting to note that older versions of Solaris and HP-UX (and maybe others that I’ve forgotten) actually had binaries in /etc too.

9 Answers 9

Originally, there was /bin for programs (essentially, executable binaries), and very soon /dev for device files and /lib for extra executable code loaded by programs (libraries). /usr also came in very early, first for user data, then as an extra OS area with its own bin and lib and then man containing the manual in electronic form. The source code was also often provided somewhere under /usr .

And there were a few files in the operating system that didn’t fit in any of the existing categories. This included a passwd file containing users’ passwords, and an mtab file written by mount , and the init and later rc programs executed at boot time, and over time more and more programs that were intended to be executed only for administration purpose and not as part of normal usage.

(You can browse some old Unix source code on the Unix Tree. Versions earlier than V6 are very fragmentary. You can also see V1 and V6 manuals at the Manual Page Library.)

At first, there was no connotation that files in /etc were configuration files. In these very early days, if you wanted to customize something, you’d be recompiling that part of the system. As Unix got more powerful, there were more and more things you could do without recompiling. As Unix got used more widely, there were more and more things people wanted to do, and they found ways of doing them without going through the trouble of recompiling. So /etc filled up with more and more text files that people could and did customize, hence it gradually became the configuration directory.

With the creation of /sbin to contain programs intended only for the system administrator, /etc ended up containing only text files, many of which can be customized by the system administrator. A few files (e.g. /etc/mtab , sometimes /etc/resolv.conf ) are automatically maintained by system programs; there is a slow trend to move these files to /run in the Linux world.

On modern unix systems, almost all system-wide configuration files are under /etc , but not all files in /etc are configuration files. Typical Linux distributions and other unix variants don’t cope very well with modifying many of the files that come from packages; at a minimum, you may end up having to merge local modifications manually when the system is upgraded.

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Where is /etc in linux?

/boot/ contains files used for system startup including the kernel. /dev/ contains device files. /etc/ is where configuration files and directories are located. /home/ is the default location for users‟ home directories.

Where is the etc folder located?

The /etc directory is contained in the root directory. It stores storage system configuration files, executables required to boot the system, and some log files.

What is Linux etc folder?

/etc — Configuration Files

The /etc directory contains configuration files, which can generally be edited by hand in a text editor. Note that the /etc/ directory contains system-wide configuration files — user-specific configuration files are located in each user’s home directory.

How do I open etc folder in Ubuntu terminal?

1. To open a Folder from terminal type the following, nautilus /path/to/that/folder. or xdg-open /path/to/the/folder. i.e nautilus /home/karthick/Music xdg-open /home/karthick/Music.
2. Simply typing nautilus will take you file browser, nautilus.

What is etc folder in Ubuntu?

ETC is a folder which contain all your system configuration files in it.

Linux Directories Explained — including /etc /home /var /proc /usr

35 related questions found

How do I find a folder in Ubuntu?

1. To navigate into the root directory, use «cd /»
2. To navigate to your home directory, use «cd» or «cd ~»
3. To navigate up one directory level, use «cd ..»
4. To navigate to the previous directory (or back), use «cd -«

What does etc stand for in Linux?

/etc. Contains system-wide configuration files and system databases; the name stands for et cetera but now a better expansion is editable-text-configurations.

How do I change to etc folder?

Let us change to your home directory in Linux, run: cd. If you want to change to the /etc/security/ directory on Linux, execute: cd /etc/security/

What is etc shadow?

/etc/shadow is a text file that contains information about the system’s users’ passwords. It is owned by user root and group shadow, and has 640 permissions .

What is CD etc command in Linux?

The cd (“change directory”) command is used to change the current working directory in Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most basic and frequently used commands when working on the Linux terminal. . Each time you interact with your command prompt, you are working within a directory.

What is Linux bin?

/bin is a standard subdirectory of the root directory in Unix-like operating systems that contains the executable (i.e., ready to run) programs that must be available in order to attain minimal functionality for the purposes of booting (i.e., starting) and repairing a system.

How do you enter etc?

The abbreviation of et cetera is etc. Use etc. when you begin a list that you will not complete; it indicates that there are other items in the list besides the ones you explicitly mention. The abbreviation is more common than the full phrase in business and technical writing.

Where is the etc folder in CentOS?

/usr/bin. Contains the Common programs and commands that are accessible by all users of the CentOS 7 system. For example, basic Linux commands like ls, cd, pwd, etc.. contains inside the /usr/bin directory. These programs are executable by both administrators and regular Linux users.

How do I open etc file in Ubuntu?

Open the corresponding editor (usually via ‘Applications’ > ‘Accessories‘ > ‘Terminal’). Enter the following command: sudo nano /etc/hosts. The sudo prefix gives you the necessary root rights. The hosts file is a system file and is especially protected in Ubuntu.

How do I list files in Linux?

1. To list all files in the current directory, type the following: ls -a This lists all files, including. dot (.) .
2. To display detailed information, type the following: ls -l chap1 .profile. .
3. To display detailed information about a directory, type the following: ls -d -l .

What is the use of etc command in Linux?

The /etc (et-see) directory is where a Linux system’s configuration files live. A large number of files (over 200) appear on your screen. You’ve successfully listed the contents of the /etc directory, but you can actually list files in several different ways.

What is an etc file?

ETC filename suffix is mostly used for EarthTime files. . Files with ETC extension may be used by programs distributed for Windows platform. ETC file belongs to the Misc Files category just like 5937 other filename extensions listed in our database. The software recommended for managing ETC files is EarthTime.

How do I find a folder in Terminal?

If you wish to search your entire computer, type “/” or if you wish to search only your user directory, type » /» there. Replace the Y (in quotes) with the search criteria. The output of the command that is printed to the screen will be the directory paths to the files matching the search criteria.

How do I find a folder in Ubuntu terminal?

Navigate to your specific folder. Right click and launch the terminal by clicking on the Open in Terminal option. Now, you can find the directory path using pwd command. The pwd command stands for Print Working Directory.

What is bin and lib?

«bin» is used for executables, «share» for data files, «lib» for shared libraries and so on. So if your program is a library, you can install it by default to /usr/local/lib.

Where is binary installed in Linux?

4 Answers. In general, if a non-system installed and maintained binary needs to be accessible system-wide to multiple users, it should be placed by an administrator into /usr/local/bin . There is a complete hierarchy under /usr/local that is generally used for locally compiled and installed software packages.

What is tree structured directory?

The directory is structured in the form of a tree. It also has a root directory, and every file in the system has a unique path. A directory within a tree-structured directory may contain files or subdirectories. Special system calls are used to create or remove directories.

What is cd etc?

This command cd /etc changes directory to the directory specified after the slash / . The /etc refers to a folder in the root called etc . If the linux user was inside the /etc folder, typing cd / would bring the user to the root.

Where is PWD located in Linux?

It prints the path of the working directory, starting from the root. pwd is shell built-in command(pwd) or an actual binary(/bin/pwd). $PWD is an environment variable which stores the path of the current directory.

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